mind map world war one

September The First Battle of Marne checks German advance at the cost of 13,000 British, 250,000 French and 250,000 German casualties.

October First Battle of Ypres.

November Trenches are established along the entire Western Front.

December The Battle of the Falkland Islands. A Royal navy task force sinks three German cruisers that were victorious at the Battle of Coronel in November

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Amphion is sunk by German mines in the North Sea, causing the death of 150 men and the first British casualties of war

August The first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps arrive in France.

August The Battle of Le Cateau. BEF suffers 7,812 casualties and is forced to retreat.

July Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

1915

March The British Offensive at Neuve Chapelle begins. Allied losses amount to 12,800 in two days. Some of the blame falls on the poor quality and lack of British shells, initiating the 'Shell Crisis'.

April Second Battle of Ypres begins. First use of poison gas by Germany.

June The Third and final Battle of Krithia begins at Gallipoli as Allies attempt to push inland from their beach-heads. British losses amount to 6,000 men

August The Battle of Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli, is the final British offensive in the Dardanelles. They are repelled and lose 5,000 men.

September The Great Allied Offensive focuses on Loos and Champagne. At the Battle of Loos the British use gas for the first time but the wind blows this over their own troops resulting in 2632 casualties - seven are killed.

October Steel helmets introduced on the British Front

1916

January Introducing conscription, the British Government passes the Military Service Act, to become law on 25 May.

February The Battle of Verdun starts with a German offensive against theMort-Homme Ridge. The German plan is to bleed the French dry of men and resources. The battle lasts 10 months and over a million men become casualties.

April The Battle of Kut. The third and final Allied attempt to relieve Kut flounders in the mud along the Tigris, with 23,000 Allied casualties.

June Voluntary Enlistment in Britain is replaced by Compulsion.

The Battle of the Somme sees 750,000 Allied soldiers unleashed along a 25 mile front. By the end of the day nearly 60,000 are dead, wounded or missing for very little gain. It is the worst single day's fighting in British military history

September The Battle of Thiepval. Tanks play a crucial role in the capture of this strategic village.

December The Battle of Verdun ends. It is the longest and costliest battle on the Western Front.

The first Zeppelin is shot down over Britain. The Royal Flying Corps uses a new combination of explosive and incendiary bullets to great effect.

1917

April US declares war on Germany. Troops begin to mobilise immediately.

April The Battle of Arras. The British successfully employ new tactics of creeping barrages, the 'graze fuse' and counter battery fire.

The Third Battle of Verdun begins. French progress is marked by gaining lost territory in the earlier battles

October The third phase of the Ypres Offensive begins with British and French troops taking Poelcapelle. 25mm of rain falls in the next 48 hours on already saturated ground. The previous bombardments smashed the drainage systems and the battlefield turns into a quagmire.

October The last airship raid on Britain is carried out by 11 Zeppelins.

Britain liberates Jerusalem, ending 673 years of Turkish rule

June The Battle of Messines Ridge. The British take the ridge with few casualties, as it is preceded by the detonation of 19 mines under the German front lines. The explosions are reportedly heard from England.

1918

March German assaults now reach the Somme Line. The greatest air battle of the war takes place over the battlefield as 70 aircraft are involved in a single combat.

March The German offensive along the River Scarpe is halted at great loss. The American Expeditionary Force plays a vital role in the battle.

April The German Spring Offensive halts outside Amiens as British and Australian forces hold the line. The second 1917 battle of the Somme ends, as Germany calls off Operation Michael.

May The German Air Force launches its largest and last raid on London. Out of the 33 aircraft, 6 are lost, while 49 civilians are killed and 177 wounded.

July The second Battle of the Marne marks the final phase of the German Spring Offensive. Allied counter attacks inflict irreplaceable German casualties. The defeat leads to the cancellation of the planned Invasion of Flanders and puts the Germans on the complete defensive.

August The second Battle of Amiens begins. German resistance is sporadic and thousands surrender. Fighting is now defined by mobility as the lines of trenches are breached.

September British and Arab troops take Damascus, capturing 7,000 prisoners and securing stability in the Middle East.

November Armistice Day The Armistice is signed at 5.00am and comes into effect at 11.00am. At 10.57am Canadian Private George Lawrence Price is killed while on patrol in Canal du Centre. He is the last soldier to die in action on the Western front.